AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 09
Friday, November 9, 2007
Goin’ to Arizona to see some fall ball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Looking forward to getting on a plane bound for Phoenix tomorrow morning, and not simply because it’ll be 90 degrees when I get there (but that sure sounds nice about now, doesn’t it?). No, I’m eager to see The Kid play a little fall ball, see if young Jordan Schafer is all that everyone says he is.
Just checked the latest stats for the Braves’ future center fielder (I’ll bet he’s manning CF by opening day 2009, perhaps even sooner) and saw that he was 1-for-12 in his last three games before today.
Not to worry — his average was still at .350 and his on-base percentage at .418. He was third in the batting race among players with at least 60 at-bats.
Before the mini-slump Schafer had gone 14-for-26 in his previous games to raise his average to .397. He’s 28-for-60 with six doubles and a homer for the Peoria Javelinas, and he’s one of the youngest players in the league, having just turned 21 in September.
“He’s done a great job out there, adapted just terrifically to the higher level of competition,” Braves player development director Kurt Kemp said of Schafer, who is one of the few top prospects out there who hasn’t played above A-ball.
Meanwhile, the Braves continue to turn up rocks and pound the phones trying to find the stopgap replacement CF for Andruw Jones.
I’m hearing the same names you folks are, waiting for something substantial, for one name to emerge ahead of the others. I’ve talked to several people, and I’m talking to some beat guys in other cities who are snooping around, too.
Maybe it changes an hour from now and I hear something that leads me to believe one guy has emerged as the favorite. But not yet. So I’ll keep asking about the likes of Boston’s Coco Crisp, Kansas City’s David DeJesus, the Angels’ Chone Figgins, Toronto’s Reed Johnson, Cincinnati’s Ryan Freel, and San Francisco’s Randy Winn, among others.
Some seem a lot more realistic than others. Obviously Chone Figgins would be just about a perfect fit, a versatile player who has plenty of CF experience and hit .330 with a .393 OBP and 41 steals in only 115 at-bats last season. Hello, leadoff man. However, the Angels have teams lined up interested in Figgins, who’s making $4.75 mill next season and then should make plenty more in his final year of arbitration in 2009, before becoming a free agent.
I’d rank him first among affordable (salary-wise) or somewhat affordable possibilities, well ahead of Coco Crisp, who’s better defensively but hit just .268 with a .330 OBP and .382 slugging percentage this season and lost his job to rookie Jacoby Ellsbury late in the season. Crisp, once a power-hitting Indians prospect, has only 14 homers in over 900 at-bats over the past two seasons, and showed no more power this season than he did when his sore wrist was blamed for sapping his power in ’06.
Making him even less likely is the high asking price the Red Sox want in a trade for Crisp, who’s owed $4.75 mill in ‘08 and $5.75 mill in ‘09, with an $8 mill option and $500K buyout for 2010. Too much money, too long a commitment, and too much in trade (Braves already said “no way” to a reported Kelly Johnson-for-Crisp proposal).
David DeJesus has a lot of pluses, not the least of which is a very reasonable contract — $13.3 mill over the next four years. Royals GM Dayton Moore, a former Braves asst. GM, says the Royals are unlikely to trade DeJesus, whose average slipped from .295 in 2006 to .260 in 157 games in 2007, his first season with more than 122 games.
Maybe Dayton’s just trying to drive up the asking price, trying to get plenty in return for DeJesus. I don’t know if the Braves would want to make a four-year commitment, even at that reasonable rate. Then again, you could always trade DeJesus again or use him at another position after Schafer arrives.
Winn is a solid all-around player who hit .300 with 42 doubles and 14 homers for the Giants, including 10 homers on the road away from pitcher-friendly AT&T Park. He’s got a .286 career average in 10 seasons, double-digit homers in seven consecutive seasons (20 in 2005) and a ton of experience in CF and in LF.
But the switch-hitting vet is owed $8 mill in 2008 and $8.5 mill in 2009 and I can’t see any way Braves trade for him unless they can get San Francisco to pay a chunk of that salary.
Ryan Freel might be at least a remote possibility from Cincinnati, but I can assure you Ken Griffey Jr. is not. Braves haven’t talked to Reds about Griffey and have no plans to.
And considering Freel hit .245 with three homers in 277 at-bats last season, including just two homers in 40 games at the most hitter-friendly home ballpark in the majors, and he’s owed $3 mill in 2008 and $4 mill in ’09 … uh, well, I don’t see that happening.
Looking for lefties: The Braves are expected to land one left-hander in the next week or two, soon-to-be 42-year-old starter Tom Glavine. If they don’t sign the free agent, I and most of baseball would be very surprised.
It could happen next week anytime after the Tuesday start day for teams to talk contract figures with other teams’ free agents, but don’t be surprised if it takes a little longer. Glavine isn’t going to take the Braves’ first offer, I’d imagine, not when teams such as Washington have made it clear they’d also be interested should he choose to even consider other proposals.
But whatever happens, whatever posturing occurs, whatever rumors of the Braves’ big being too low or the Nationals making a great offer, I really don’t see Glavine signing with any team other than the Braves. Maybe if the Braves just flub this thing up and come in with an embarrassingly low offer, he’d look elsewhere, but I don’t see that happening.
Meanwhile, Braves are also trying to land a lefty reliever, whether that be re-signing Ron Mahay or trying to get a cheaper option if Mahay’s price goes too high, which could well happen since so many teams are interested in him.
Mahay’s come this far and now has his first crack at a big free-agent deal, so you can expect that he’s going to test the waters and not sign anything too quickly.
Chipper “shocked” by Wright Gold Glove: I talked to Chipper Jones a few hours after the Gold Glove awards were announced on Tuesday, and he seemed at least as surprised as most of us were that Mets 3B David Wright got the NL award.
Wright had the fifth-most errors (21) among NL third baseman, and his .954 fielding percentage was fifth-lowest among NL third baseman, far behind the top three of San Francisco’s Pedro Feliz (.973), Chicago’s Aramis Ramirez (.972) and Chipper (.971), who had nine errors in 126 games at third base.
“I wouldn’t have been disappointed had someone like Feliz or Ramirez won it,” Jones said. “I’m a little confused by the final tally — that’s a head-scratcher for me.”
The managers and coaches do the voting for Gold Gloves, and I told Chipper it wouldn’t be the first time their votes were swayed as much by a player’s hitting totals as his defense. Wright hit .325 with 30 homers and 107 RBIs in 160 games.
“Then [Miguel] Cabrera should have won it, if that were the case,” Chipper said of the theory. And he had a point, though Cabrera’s defense is so shaky that it would be ridiculous to award him a Gold Glove.
“When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time,” Chipper said. “Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn’t win it.”
This afternoon I was going over stats and started comparing. And it made me realize, again, just how potent Chipper’s bat has been whenever he’s been in the lineup the past two seasons.
Consider this: Wright had what was widely hailed as a terrific offensive season, batting .325 with 40 doubles, 1 triple, 30 homers, 113 runs, 107 RBIs, a .416 OBP and a .546 slugging percentage (.962 OPS).
Now consider this: Chipper played 24 fewer games than Wright, and Hoss hit .337 with 42 doubles, 4 triples, 29 homers, 108 runs, 102 RBIs, a .425 OBP and a .604 slugging percentage (1.029 OPS).
Wright killed him in steals (29 to 5), but otherwise Chipper’s numbers are all nearly equal or better than Wright’s, in 24 fewer games.
Chipper got hot at the plate in late June 2006, and the only thing that’s cooled him for any significant stretch since then has been a couple of stints on the DL. Each time, he’s come back from the DL blazing, no rehab required.
Since June 24, 2006, he’s played 185 games and hit .350 with 58 doubles, 48 homers, 153 RBIs, a .434 OBP and .655 slugging percentage.
In 92 road games in that stretch, Jones hit .370 (not a typo) with 33 doubles, 25 homers, 77 RBIs, a .442 OBP and a .690 slugging percentage — a 1.132 OPS.
My Morning Jacket: I know we’ve raved about the Kentucky band My Morning Jacket in the past, but I just have to reiterate, since I’m going through a second wave of can’t-take-it-out-of-my-CD-player with their live album, Okonokos.
The thing came out a year ago, but I go back to it and it sounds as fresh and incredible every time I put it on.
Seriously, if you guys want to hear one of the best live bands and best straight-ahead, bluesy, rock albums of the past, oh, century or so, get this double-disc. It’s what “jam bands” should be, but almost none are. Don’t believe me? Download a couple of songs on it. Try these three from the first disc: songs Nos. 7-9, “The Way That He Sings,” “What A Wonderful Man” and “Off The Record.”
Now, a great singer-songwriter will take us out:
”NO MORE BUFFALO” by James McMurtry
I guess we knew the cards were stacked
started out the best of friends
and we beat that highway ‘till it quit beating back
it didn’t mean much in the end some you win, some you lose
some you throw away
we headed South across those Colorado plains
just as empty as the day we looked around at all we saw
remembered all we’d hoped to see
looking out through the bugs on the windshield
somebody said to me
no more buffalo
blue skies or open road
no more rodeo
no more noise
take this Cadillac
park it out in back
mama’s calling
put away the toys
don’t chase that carrot
‘till it makes you sick
what do you think you’re gonna prove
just let it dangle
‘till it falls off that stick
that’s when you make your move
don’t go chasing after shooting stars
trying to make yourself a name
you could joust at the windmills
with that old Fender guitar
you’d probably do about the same
no more buffalo
blue skies or open road
no more rodeo
no more noise
take this Cadillac
park it out in back
mama’s calling
put away the toys
I never thought they’d ever doubt my words
I guess they were just too tired to care
I’d point to the horizon
to the dust of the herds
still hovering in the air
somebody said it ain’t any such
man you wish so hard you’re scaring me
and those are combines kicking up that dust
but I guess you can see what you want to see
you can keep on chasing what used to be there
top that rise and face the pain
but man they were here
they were here I swear
not just these bleaching bones
stretching across the plain
no more buffalo
blue skies or open road
no more rodeo
no more noise
take this Cadillac
park it out in back
mama’s calling
put away the toys
hey broke into your car last night,
took the stereo
No seen Elvis in a year or two
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